Pedro Arias Dávila, also Pedro Arias de Ávila, also called Pedrarias (born 1440?, Segovia, Castile [Spain]—died March 6, 1531, León, New Spain [now in Nicaragua]) Spanish soldier and colonial administrator who led the first Spanish expedition to found permanent colonies on the American mainland.

A soldier in his youth, Arias Dávila served with distinction in wars against the Moors in Granada in the 1490s and in North Africa in 1508–11. It is believed that he owed his appointment as captain general of the Spanish lands in the New World, which he received in 1513, to the bishop of Burgos. Arias Dávila sailed for the New World in 1514 with 19 ships and about 1,500 men.

Arias Dávila’s accomplishments include establishing colonies in what are now Panama (1514) and Nicaragua (1522), serving as governor of Panama (1514–26) and Nicaragua (1527–31), and founding Panama City (1519). He also sent out expeditions of conquest, such as that led by Hernán Ponce and Bartolomé Hurtado to what are now Costa Rica and Nicaragua in 1516 and that led by Francisco Pizarro and Diego de Almagro, which left in 1524 to conquer the Inca empire in what is now Peru. Arias Dávila, however, has been described both as being too old and as lacking the intellectual and moral capacity needed by a captain general. He seems to have deliberately promoted discord among the captains placed under his command, and he was held responsible for the trial and execution of the explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa in 1519.

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...his king. Returning to Santa María in January 1514, he encountered much resistance from the Indians. Five years afterward Balboa was executed for insurrection on orders of the new governor, Pedro Arias de Ávila, known as Pedrarias Dávila, “the Cruel,” who had distrusted Balboa and feared his rivalry.

The king relieved Balboa with a trusted general, Pedro Arias Dávila (known as Pedrarias), although he allowed Balboa to continue his explorations on the Pacific coast. Pedrarias, however, distrusted the ambitious Balboa and, accusing him of treason, had him beheaded in 1517. Pedrarias expanded the colony but was responsible for enslaving and murdering the Indian population, despite royal...

...Charges brought against him by his enemies had turned King Ferdinand against him, and, as commander of the armada and governor of Darién, the king sent out the elderly, powerful nobleman Pedro Arias Dávila (usually called Pedrarias). The expedition, numbering 2,000 persons, left Spain in April 1514.